Cypress Lake HS Student Wins Song of the Year

Cypress Lake High School Senior Wins Song of the Year Award
Posted on 04/25/2023
Portrait of Kristen Noble

Cypress Lake High School senior Kristen Noble started singing as early as she can remember.  By the age of 9 she was taking vocal lessons. Now, as she’s about to graduate, it’s paid off.

Kristen was just honored with a CARA (Contemporary Acapella Recording Award) award from the Contemporary A Cappella Society for Best Original Song by a Scholastic Group. She wrote the song “Losing Game” from the album Stuck in Your Head by TAG, The A Cappella Group at Cypress Lake High School. The CARA is the a cappella community’s version of the Grammy award and honors a cappella groups from across the globe.

“Hearing my name called as the winner was such a wonderful moment” Kristen says. “In an industry where it is imperative to believe in your own work, it is very encouraging to have this kind of validation! It was surreal to witness the fulfillment of what I hoped would happen.”

Kristen wrote the song in 2021 when she was feeling heartbroken and used the lyrics as an outlet to cope with her emotions.  It took her two days to write, and a couple of months later she recorded her own version. She then brought the song to TAG to record on their latest album.

“I try to make my songs specific yet universal,” Kristen says. “I hope that people who relate to ‘Losing Game’ find it cathartic to hear their experiences written about.”

TAG is celebrating it’s 20th year at Cypress Lake High School and is one of the most decorated and recognized high school groups in the world. Kristen’s CARA is TAG’s 12th Contemporary A Capella Society award, tying them for the most of any high school group. They’ve had more than 50 nominations, the most of any high school or college group in the world. Stuck in their Mind, released in 2022, was the group’s 15th album. Alumni include Casey Bishop who made it the semifinals on American Idol and Ryleigh Plank who made it into the Live Playoffs on The Voice.

“TAG is special,” Kristen says, “because it requires an advanced level of musicianship and collaboration for its students.”

Kristen is graduating in May and headed to Belmont University in Nashville to study songwriting. She hopes to continue releasing her own music and writing for other artists in Nashville and beyond.

“Losing Game” is available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bApd89hoCQs and for download on all music streaming platforms.